Anybody else think this big disintegrating thing down the middle is remarkable?

[phantom power]

Seems remarkable to me.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Greenland is melting.....

[leveymg]

4. Iceland is almost ice-free,

and ashes are burning:

[Uben]

2. You talking about the big black hole?

Probably Cheney's bunker.

[daleanime]

3. Instead we all caught up in...

who' supporting whom.:scared:

[XemaSab]

5. I'm right there with you

I know the gyres and drifts have been wonky this summer, but I can't really make sense of why (all things being equal) it would be melting in that pattern.

[pscot]

7. There is probably a current

running through there. It's likely to be more stagnant along the shorelines. Water is moving under that slush, bring heat to it, and pulling melt water away. It's going to open up in the middle. Penguins know shit like that.

[The Croquist]

8. Penguins know shit like that

Good point.

I've also heard that they like to stay as far away from Polar Bears as they can!

[Dogmudgeon]

9. Hey, pscot ...

Not to be too much of a stickler or anything, but ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin">Penguin(s) (Read the first paragraph).

--d!

[pscot]

12. Oh not that old canard

We migrate, fool.

[XemaSab]

13. I've seen March of the Penguins

I know how it is. ;)

[Dead_Parrot]

15. It's not March, it's August

Wait, what?

[The Croquist]

6. I don't know.

What has it looked like on 08/09 in the past?

[madokie]

10. If thats been posted once

its been posted a half dozen times. It looks like a photoshop to me now as it has each and everytime I've seen this photo. I guess it makes for conversation but other than that WTF
over

[Systematic Chaos]

16. Don't you have a solar-powered pogo stick to go repair?

:bounce:

[madokie]

17. This has been pretty reliable, not much work needed

You see the ole boy that built this thinks his projects through before he makes the first cut and I don't have many surprises that way. :hi:

[Dead_Parrot]

11. There's us worrying about losing the ice cap...

...looks like we're going to get two of them.
Cool.

[XemaSab]

14. .

:patriot:

[PavePusher]

18. Probably warmer water currents...

flowing between the Bering Straits and the Norway-Greenland gap?

If you are talking about the black dot in the center, that would most likely be the satellite blind spot (no coverage).

[XemaSab]

19. There is typically little to no influx

between the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean.

Most heat either comes from the Gulf Stream or is generated in place.

[PavePusher]

20. Oops, got the current flows mixed up.

I was working purely from (bad) memory, thanks for the correction.

[XemaSab]

21. No worries

n/t

[Dead_Parrot]

22. Hmm. At what point do we declare the NW passage open?

'Cause apart from a couple of <50% patches, it's sort of there. :(

[joshcryer]

23. Been wide open for several days now. This will be a regular, yearly, event, now.

[Dead_Parrot]

24. Well, there's open and there's open

I'm not sure I'd fancy taking a normal ship through it just yet with those patches: It would depend on the size of the chunks of ice, but it's a long swim back if you fuck up.

"Northwest Passage still hard to navigate" according to Nunatsiaq Online. But it can't be much longer.

Just for fun, here's the previous opening (for trade) dates:
August 21, 2007; August 25, 2008; September 11, 2009.

Looking at my calendar, I see we're a bit fucked.

[GliderGuider]

25. A significant quote:

And, according to Environment Canada’s ice service, ice conditions in the Northwest Passage at the end of July resembled those normally found in the second or third week of August.

Three weeks ahead of the curve...

[XemaSab]

26. .

[XemaSab]

27. Um, what's the date on that picture?

:shrug:

[Dead_Parrot]

28. August the eleventieth, 2010. nt

[emmadoggy]

29. Yup. Seems remarkable to me too. nt